III

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Arc III Chapter 8

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Asami and her little group approached Shimabara's gates. Kumo ANBU manned the walls. They watched their every step. Naritomo accompanied Asami on an involuntary basis. He didn't volunteer for this assignment.

Kumo ANBU surrounded them. They stood everywhere and their numbers kept increasing. Naritomo gulped. ”I don’t want to question your decision, but I don't think it was a good idea to come here.”

“Do you? Why do you think so, Narimoto?” Asami strolled ahead. They approached the leader of the Kumo ANBU.

“I doubt this meeting will achieve anything.” And their safety concerned him.

Naritomo gulped again. The Kumo ANBU outnumbered them by a significant margin.

Asami chcukled. “To be honest, I don’t expect any results either.”

“Why are we even here then?” Naritomo didn't understand.

Asami sighed. ”Naritomo, you still have a lot to learn. Diplomacy rarely has the intention to produce actual results. Diplomacy is all about appearance and gentle smiles.”

”If we destroy Shimabara without a valid reason, the world will condemn us. They will call us murderers, butchers.“

“Therefore, we need a pretext. If we give them the chance to capitulate, we have done everything to avoid needless bloodshed. They doomed themselves if they reject our most gracious offer. They forfeited their lives.” Asami grinned diabolically, her eyes icy, cold, calculating. They abandoned the last vestiges of humanity.

Naritomo shivered. The girl was scary, wasn't she?

The Kumo captain greeted them. Two guards flanked him. ”The Black Princess herself, I didn't expect you to come.“

“I thought my men were joking when they told me Konoha's grim reaper offered me an audience. I didn't expect you to prefer talking over fighting. You don't have a reputation for shying away from violence, quite the contrary.”

Asami chuckled. ”Don’t be disappointed, I merely know when to choose my battles. You don’t need to fight every single battle. We can come to an agreement that suits both our interests. No need for senseless bloodshed. We are reasonable human beings.“

The Kumo captain grew suspicious. Her Highness was up to something. ”Enough of the pleasantries. What do you want?”

“I would like to make you an offer, or rather to give you an ultimatum. Either Kumogakure will withdraw all regular as well as irregular forces from Shimabara and persuade your rebel friends to surrender until tomorrow, or you will face complete destruction.“

“We will raze Shimabara to the ground. We will show no mercy.”

The Kumo captain broke out in laughter, amused by Asami's naivety. “Do I look stupid, girl? Tell me, why should we make it easy for you? Why should we give up Shimabara?”

Asami stepped closer. His two guards drew their swords to protect their captain. Their steel glimmered in the dark moonlight.

”I think you misunderstand, my friend. This isn’t a matter of making things easy. This is your last chance. This is my last warning. From hereon, only …” Asami stopped.

“Only what? Why are you suddenly lost for words? Are you scared, or what?“ The Kumo captain taunted her, but Asami ignored him.

Asami stared at his guards. She recognised the grain pattern. They were the same. Even after all these years, she remembered the fateful blade.

Hatred, rage, insanity gripped her heart, an insatiable thirst for revenge. Their attire, their posture, their swords were the same.

Asami suppressed her boiling emotions, her oscillating chakra. "Naritomo, ready our forces. We will attack in the morning.”

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All available Konoha shinobi were put on standby. Her men hid among the trees, their morale restored. They were determined to attack, to take vengeance for their fallen comrades.

Asami led them together with the rest of her ANBU. "Fu, is everyone ready?"

Fu nodded. "We are ready. We only wait for your signal."

The darkness of the night retreated and morning dawned.

Asami breathed in, breathed out. She reached a point of no return. From hereon, she couldn’t go back anymore.

The jutsu required all her concentration, all her skill, put a significant strain on her mangekyou.

She intended to carpet bomb Shimabara and provide fire support, but her plans had changed.

Asami clenched her fist. A single event had changed everything. Nothing was the same anymore. Her heart thirsted for blood.

They took position a few miles away from the designated ground zero. Asami didn't want to get caught up in the blast.

Asami observed Shimabara, a city shrouded in ignorance, unaware of its impending doom

Asami focused her eyes on the horizon. A sphere appeared in the distance. Her ominous purple eyes shimmered in the dark. Divine judgement loomed over the city.

Asami hadn't forgotten. Asami hadn't forgiven, and she wouldn't forgive.

Asami remembered. She remembered the night. Her undying hatred, her rage, her ire fuelled her jutsu, the final shining legacy of her love for okaa-san. Asami loved Kurano. Her loss haunted her to this day. The grief, the sadness, the pain never subsided.

Asami channelled her chakra. The instrument of her retribution grew in size. Her sphere expanded, and expanded, and expanded with no apparent limit.

The sphere collapsed and the core compressed.

A tear of blood ran down her face, but Asami smiled. Her work was done and her raging chakra only waited for her command to set the world aflame.

Asami closed her eyes. Silence followed, absolute silence. Seconds turned to hours as history changed.

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A flash, an enormous flash illuminated the sky. Radiant glory ignited the atmosphere and the light of the sun graced the earth.

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The shock wave reached Asami. A white line raced across the ground and the trees. The lingering heat of the detonation tickled her skin.

Her men had their eyes fixed on a gigantic column of dust. The infernal column rose into the sky higher than any mountain. The cloud formed a glowing mushroom of fire and ash.

Blood trickled down her cheek. Asami chose her path. This was vengeance. This was justice.

Kumogakure would pay for their actions. They would pay dearly, and they would pay their price in blood. Asami would bring judgement on them all.

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No. 012420 to Danzo

Classification: Top Secret “Root”

Urgency: “Root”

Report: Shimabara Rebellion and subject No. 011567

- Shimabara - rebellion suppressed - Minami Asami - No. 011567 - unknown Jutsu used - no hand seals required- powerful technique - power level not determinable - temporary classification S-rank upwards -

- explosion - bright flash - immense blast - mushroom cloud - height circa at least 6 km - total destruction of Shimabara - wiped out - entire area flattened - no building standing anymore - barren desert of rubble -

- ground zero - ground covered by glassy substance - molten sand -

- no survivors near ground zero - masses of charred corpses - all life exterminated indiscriminately - shadows burned into the ground across the city - few survivors on the outskirts - severe third degree burns - survival chances minimal -

estimated civilian casualties - 40,000 - military casualties unknown - conclusion - subject No. 011567 dangerous - elimination recommendable -

- complete report submitted when more information available -

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